News

The Bandera City Council last week endorsed the Dark Skies movement that has swept the Hill Country by modifying its outdoor lighting regulations to get outdoor lights focused downward rather than allowing rays to stray into the night sky. The new outdoor lighting amendment won quick passage from council on Feb. 6 as members agreed changes were needed to preserve the clarity of the stars in the night sky by limiting where light from outdoor fixtures is allowed to shine.…

With no funding, no staff and a board of temporary directors, the Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District is up and running. The body was created with the intent of monitoring and protecting the area’s supply of groundwater, but it must receive voter approval before it can fully perform its functions. State Rep. Paul Workman (R-Austin) tried to pass a bill in the last legislative session that would create a groundwater conservation district in the last portion of the Hill…

It’s a resource so precious that human life can’t be sustained without it, yet so common most of us take it for granted. But water is becoming scarce, a growing problem stemming from wasteful usage and exacerbated by climate change. Cape Town, South Africa, is bracing for Day Zero, when its municipal water supply runs out – likely June 4. Closer to home, Los Angeles endured a record-setting, 3-year drought that ended, just barely, last year, while Georgia and Florida are locked in a…

The Texas Water Roundtable has premiered the short film series, Texas Water Challenges. Five ten-minute films on contemporary water issues impacting Texas – water pricing and economics, new water, surface/groundwater coordination, water education, and Texas water challenges overview. The films were released January 2018 and will premiere at the State Capital Annex Auditorium on April 11th from 1-3pm. Click links below to watch: · Feature film all five topics (60 minutes): https://vimeo.com/250315889 · Texas Water Challenges (10 minutes): https://vimeo.com/250203877 · Water Economics and…

Dripping Springs is a good 90-minute drive to the north of San Antonio, but the flow of water connects this region even as water fights divide it. In this case, Dripping Springs is pursuing a permit that would allow it to discharge up to a million gallons of treated effluent a day into Onion Creek. Onion Creek is in the Edwards Aquifer contributing zone, meaning its headwaters eventually recharge the aquifer. While state law makes it illegal to discharge sewage…

The city of Uvalde has joined the Uvalde County Underground Water Conservation District and other plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Edwards Aquifer Authority. The lawsuit seeks to protect residents and businesses in the Uvalde County area from what plaintiffs contend is an unfair attempt by the authority to take their water. The lawsuit was filed on Jan. 16 in district court in Uvalde County. Officials with the Uvalde County Underground Water Conservation District said the legal action was taken partly…

Vulcan Materials Co. recently filed permit requests to put a limestone quarry on 1,500 acres of land along Highway 46 and FM 3009 in Comal County, Texas, but neighbors have organized some resistance, News 4 San Antonio reports. “The ideal would be that it would not be here, however, that is probably wishful thinking,” Sabrina Houser-Amaya, a member of “Friends of Dry Comal Creek,” the grass-roots group fighting against the quarry, told the news agency. “What we really want is that a quarry is done in…

The 40-foot wall of water that gushed down the Blanco River in May 2015, wiping out parts of Wimberley and killing more than a dozen people, was largely a natural phenomenon. But a new study shows that development along the waterway made its impact on the fast-growing Central Texas community that much worse. While the path, size and timing of a freak rainstorm were the primary drivers of the unprecedented swell that killed 13 people in the area on Memorial Day weekend,…

Anyone interested learning more about requirements and best practices for Wildlife Tax Valuation can attend a two-part Wildlife Tax Valuation Workshop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3 and Saturday, Feb. 10 at the Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne. Click here for more information. Presenters include Rufus Stephens, author of Attracting Birds in the Texas Hill Country, and Dr. Elizabeth Bates, wildlife biologist for Texas Parks & Wildlife. The comprehensive program guides landowners through the requirements and best practices for…

Managers of the Rainwater Revival School Grant Program were happily overwhelmed with 6 grant applications from Hill Country schools this year. Though all projects had merit, the three judges made difficult choices and picked two deserving high schools in Mason and Center Point to receive a combined $4,000 of grant funds. The school grant program is run in association with the Rainwater Revival + Hill Country Living Festival, a daylong educational event that takes place every fall at a Hill…

Event Details

February 22, 2018
1-5 p.m. Feb. 22 at the
Kyle City Hall, 100 W. Center St.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program is hosting two residential rainwater harvesting and turf management trainings in Kyle and San Antonio on Feb. 22 and 23, respectively.

Both events are free and open to the public. Participants at either training can also have their soil tested free of charge. Both trainings will review how to assess soil test results and provide nutrient recommendations.

The Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program aims to improve and protect surface water quality by enhancing awareness and knowledge of best management practices, coordinators said. Attendees will learn about the design and installation of residential rainwater harvesting systems and appropriate turf and landscape species based on local conditions.

Seating is limited, so attendees for either program are requested to register at the Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters website. Those attending the program in Kyle should register at https://hlhw.tamu.edu/workshops/2018/kyle/.

Those interested in either program can also contact John Smith, AgriLife Extension program specialist, College Station, at 979-845-2761 or johnwsmith@tamu.edu.

Time

"All my life I have drawn sustenance from the rivers and from the hills of my native state... I want no less for all the children of America than what I was privileged to have as a boy."-Lyndon B. Johnson